Stop Faking It

November 8, 2011

I am a big fan of Inc. Magazine, and this month had a great page in their “launch” section. The thing that caught my eye was the headline: “Stop Faking It” (what? a sex column in a business mag?)Next, was the quote: “If nobody shares they are struggling, nobody will know anybody else is struggling. That results in a bunch of people feeling isolated and scared and like big, fat losers.”

This advice was from Tara Hunt, and was in the business context, but how flipping true in daily life. At least that’s how I feel. Some people are intensely private and shuffle along in life preferring to have others glean nothing personal about them, see no faults, smell no farts, and only observe them flying high in their externally perfect world. (Oh, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not one of these people. If we only had smell-o-blog.)

Everyone struggles in life, in triathlon. The more I write, the more I understand how important it is to share our experiences.

(Seriously. Look at this suffering.)

For those advanced triathletes out there, it’s good to remember that you too (no matter how athletic you were at the start) still had your first swim start. Remember to have a spirit of encouragement to the newbies, no matter how slow or unfit they may be (or annoying on the bike course….ah-hem, me).

I remember people who said (say) encouraging things to me; I remember those who didn’t (don’t). These little things matter to the “little” people wearing swim caps and first time spandex.

For the newbies out there, embrace and if you can stomach it, bravely share your fears and struggles… because chances are, someone else is feeling the same way. Faking it…well, that’s just for baby showers and cocktail parties…

Ara

Foodie McBody

OMG I sooooooooo appreciate honesty around struggles. I just did my first tri this weekend and it was an epic struggle in many ways. So I truly appreciate honesty around ALL of it. Your blog is such a gift to me!